


The Elevator Diaries

by ChaosDragon (PlotWitch), PlotWitch



Category: Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter - Laurell K. Hamilton
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-18
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 07:34:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 17,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14786186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PlotWitch/pseuds/ChaosDragon, https://archiveofourown.org/users/PlotWitch/pseuds/PlotWitch
Summary: When Ronnie drags Anita away from St. Louis, she finds herself neck deep in another man. Namely, Edward.





	1. Strangers in Glass Elevators

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Magyar available: [Felvonó Naplók](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13476438) by [Xaveri](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xaveri/pseuds/Xaveri)



> This fic was nominated for Best Long Fic, Best Romance, and Best Hetero Smut in the 2004-2005 Pomme De Sang Fic Awards.   
> It took Second Place in the Long Fic category, First Place in the Best Romance category, and Second Place again in Best Hetero Smut.
> 
> This was originally a 'volume one' but I know I will never really write in this fandom again, and will be adding a chapter or two at the end to share the outlines of volumes 2 and 3.

It was completely unexpected.

My trip south had been sudden, not planned. No one knew, not even Jean-Claude or Richard. Not that they’d care, even if they did know. Despite welcoming me back as an active member of the Triumvirate, I wasn’t welcome in their personal lives.

My own doing, I suppose. If I hadn’t run, hadn’t hidden, risked so much… But my time apart from them had taken its toll on our already strained relationships. Richard would have nothing at all to do with me that didn’t involve calling and sharing power. He was closer to Jean-Claude than me.

Jean-Claude was cordial, friendly. But very distant. He held me at arms length when I was around, ignored me when I wasn’t. I guess he was only marginally warmer towards me than Richard, once he knew that I was safe and alive.

Santa Fe had changed things.

Which was why I found myself in the lobby of a Ft. Lauderdale hotel wearing nothing but a bathing suit and towel. Of course, I was generously clothed compared to Ronnie. She was wearing a bright orange and yellow bikini that showed far more than it covered. I was feeling very aware of myself even though I was still in black.

We were crossing the lobby, a large glassed-in atrium, and on our way to the veranda for a late lunch when I saw him. He was standing in one of the glass walled elevators that ran up the side of the main hotel, lounging against the side wearing nothing more than a towel wrapped around his lean hips.

His hair was on the longish side and curled slightly, a bright gold against his deeply tanned skin. His back was to me and I felt my heart skip a beat as I tried to peer around and see his face, but I couldn’t. The elevator was already moving further up.

And, of course, Ronnie was yanking me to the veranda. “Come on, Anita. I don’t want to miss the cute cabana boys,” she was saying as I still struggled to see the face of the stranger.

He made me think of Edward, and of what he told me in Santa Fe. _An uncomplicated fuck,_ he’d said. Maybe he was right. Maybe I did need that.

I was still thinking about it when I caught a glimpse of him stepping out of the elevator, but still, no face. Not for lack of trying, though.

Ronnie dragged me to a table and we sat down. She ordered wine and a salad; I ordered a soda and something called bourbon shrimp. It said that the alcohol was cooked off. I hoped it was right, since we were supposed to be lounging around on the deck after lunch. Wouldn’t do to get heat stroke or something.

It didn’t really matter. While Ronnie ate and drank her wine, I picked at my food and tried to keep from readjusting my suit. I still felt out of place without my weapons. The only consolation was that no one knew I was coming here. And still didn’t.

We’d been here long enough for me to get a light tan, no more than a hint of color to my skin. Thankfully I was careful to put sun block on, but even still, I had a faint tan line. One that Ronnie was apparently determined to expand, I decided as her glass tipped over, deep red wine running off the table and onto my lap.

My suit, my towel both, ruined.

“Oh my God, I’m sorry, Anita!” she exclaimed. She grabbed one of the linen napkins and pressed it to the puddle in my lap. “I didn’t mean to tip it towards you.”

“Towards me?” I asked as I took the napkin from her and tried to blot up the worst of the stain. “You spilled it on purpose?”

She smiled faintly. “I was trying to get someone’s attention,” she said, flushing pink under her tan.

I muttered dire things under my breath as we tried to clean the wine up. The only thing I was doing was making myself sticky. I threw my hands up in disgust. “This is useless, the suit needs to be washed and I need a shower.”

I’d swear that Ronnie smirked, but I decided that she was only drooling over the cabana boy who was bringing her more napkins. He was on the short side, but dark eyed and light haired. And I wasn’t thinking of how nice it would be to be pressed to the side of a glass elevator underneath him.

Huh. Must just be the stranger.

Ronnie was still happily chatting with the waiter—cabana boy just didn’t seem pc—when I left. I headed to the pretty bank of glass elevators and stepped into one, thinking again of the sun bronzed man I’d seen.

I really needed to get laid.

I hadn’t been with anyone since before Santa Fe. I hadn’t been with anyone for a while since before Santa Fe. Even Edward was starting to look good in my mind. If only I could find that man again…

My mouth dropped open as I looked through the plate glass and saw him standing in the next elevator. His back was to me again, but I could almost see his face as his elevator descended and mine rose. By the time I had arrived at the eleventh floor he was long gone and my hormones were raging.

I couldn’t seem to get the image of that pale blue towel wrapped around his waist, emphasizing the definition of his hip bones and rising to a smooth, muscular back. I could almost imagine what it would be like running my mouth over that golden skin.

And I promptly shook myself out of the fantasy. I was in an elevator on the eleventh floor and wearing a wine-drenched bathing suit. It was probably ruined.

God hates me. That, or the imp of the perverse was at work.

I slammed into the hotel room and threw my towel into the small washer that the suite came with. Then I peeled the suit off and dropped it in, adding copious amounts of detergent, hoping that it wouldn’t take very long to wash and dry.

I’d be lucky if Ronnie came back up, given the way she’d been talking to the waiter, so I figured I had all the time in the world. I grabbed the remote and started flipping through channels, cringing as I passed through various soap operas before settling on some odd movie about love. Or sex.

I’d been watching it for a little while when a buzzer cut through my thoughts. The suit was clean. I hoped. I pulled it out and, lo and behold, it was. It only took me a few seconds to toss it into the dryer and crank the heat up. Then I headed back to the TV.

I know I left them in the dryer for too long. Really, I do. Because they were completely dry and completely cooled off by the time Ronnie made it back and interrupted me as the movie ended. She was making a high pitched gasping noise as she stood in front of the dryer.

“Do you ever read the care instructions on your clothes, Anita?” she was saying as she yanked the door open and pulled the suit out.

I couldn’t think of anything intelligent to say as she held out a now partially ripped and frayed wad of material.

“I hope you brought another suit. You’re never wearing this one again.”

I smiled weakly. “Would you be pissed if I told you that was my only bathing suit?”

“That you brought with you?”

“In the whole world.”

She just stared at it. Well, to be fair, so did I. Then she looked at me, grinning almost evilly. “You know what this means, right?”

I glared.

“We have to go shopping.”

I glared harder.

“Too bad for you, this place only sells bikinis.”

I could almost swear that she’d planned this.


	2. Poolside Verandas

The word bikini implies that there is enough cloth to at least decently cover the breasts and butt. The things that Ronnie kept holding out and demanding that I try on did not qualify as bikinis. They looked like they were what was left over when a bikini was made.

But she was right, the little shop in the hotel only sold bikinis when it came to women’s swim wear. All I was trying to do was find one that covered more than my nipple. It wasn’t going well.

“Anita, that one looks great on you. Why don’t you buy it?” I heard Ronnie say as I stared at myself critically in the mirror.

‘That one’ was a small blue-green bikini covered over in watery looking tropical flowers of the same color, but just a bit lighter. It was a halter top, which at least guaranteed my chest was almost decently covered, and the bottoms were a very low dipping cut that almost showed everything. But not quite.

I was staring at myself, and I had to admit, the color wasn’t too bad with my skin and hair. The bottoms felt like they weren’t covering anything, but nothing was getting by. They actually made me look like I had a waist and curves somewhere other than my chest.

The top wasn’t half bad, though. It actually did cover my boobs, and kind of lifted them up too, so that they looked perky and full instead of huge. It didn’t hide the scars on my arms, though it did distract from the ones on my collarbone. But then, no bathing suit, bikini or no, could hide those scars.

And, I hated to admit it; I looked pretty good in it.

I was almost fine with buying it until I saw the price tag. “Two hundred dollars for that scrap?!” I hissed at Ronnie as I threw it out form the changing room.

She snickered. “It costs to look good.”

“But two _hundred_ dollars?” I sighed as I pulled my shirt back on and grabbed my key card. I didn’t carry anything else, I was charging everything to my room so that I didn’t have to carry a purse.

I was still grumbling when I signed the receipt and left the shop. My thoughts strayed back to the glass elevators as we grabbed our bags—Ronnie had bought more than I had—and headed for the gift shop. We had to stop in there for a moment, I needed more sun block.

I was almost disappointed when my golden stranger didn’t appear again as we rode the elevator up, but it was only momentary. I was too busy and, almost, excited as I changed into my new bikini and the matching sarong that someone, I’m not naming names, dropped into my bag.

I should have looked at the receipt before signing it, but the sea green sarong looked almost sexy with the knot riding low on my left hip. It draped across me at an angle, just showing a hint of my bellybutton. Mine was, unlike Ronnie’s free of jewelry.

I turned in front of the mirror in my room and smiled at what I saw. A bit of something from Ronnie’s bathroom in my hair, a touch of reddish gloss to my lips and I was ready to go. I’d smoothed the sun block on my skin before dressing but I dropped it in my canvas bag next to my towel, book and hat in case I needed to reapply.

I’d learned on my first day that one application does not last all day.

When Ronnie emerged from her room all of my happy I-feel-pretty thoughts flew away. She looked like a blond goddess in her blazing red bikini. And she was showing a lot more skin than me. Her only covering was a white mesh sun dress that didn’t really cover anything at all.

I rolled my eyes and followed her back out to the elevators, stepping on and pressing my body against the glass, trying to pick my stranger out from the crowd. I didn’t see him anywhere.

“I don’t want to go to the beach, okay?” I didn’t feel like spending what felt like hours scrubbing and rinsing salt and sand from my skin and hair, and I doubt she did either

She shrugged and altered her path so that we headed past the veranda and onto the multi-level pool deck. Most of the chairs and lounges were taken by people trying to soak in the fading rays of the sun. I stifled the first twinge of homesickness as I thought of how it would already be dark.

Then I laughed. I was going back. If Florida had the sun until eight at night, I should enjoy it.

We grabbed a pair of lounges as an older couple left and spread our towels out on them. I dropped onto mine with a sigh, reaching for my book and hat. With it settled on my head I felt safe enough to start examining the crowd at the pool.

Ronnie was doing what all gorgeous women do: attracting stares as she put her suntan oil on.

I think I would have laughed, except my mouth suddenly went dry and my heart skipped a beat. He was there, relaxing in a lounge across the pool from me, head back and skin glistening with water. I could see his face, almost. It was hidden by a pair of sunglasses, but he was still painfully handsome.

Oh yes, my hormones were talking.

I dropped my gaze quickly and snapped my book open, trying to read it. But my eyes kept creeping up to take in the way his hair curled into gold as it dried, the way his chest rose and fell as he breathed. The way his muscles rippled as he stood and began walking around the pool.

To me. Around the pool to me.

I buried my nose in the book and tried not to be painfully aware of him as he stopped in front of my lounge. I didn’t dare look up, not even when he settled down onto the empty chair next to me and leaned forward to speak to me.

“I noticed you watching me,” he said softly.

The sound of his voice shivered across my body and for a moment I thought it sounded vaguely familiar as it rolled with the soft undertones of southern Florida. But I didn’t know anyone from the area, so I ignored it, trying to preserve my dignity. Of course, there was none left to preserve now, but still.

I kept my eyes lowered to the book, but I wasn’t really seeing it as I said, “Is it a crime to watch people now?”

I could hear the smile in his voice. “No.” It dropped lower, into a whisper. “So have you decided to take my advice?” he asked.

My head jerked up and my eyes flew to the sunglasses. “Your advice?” I echoed.

Then those lips curved into the familiar half smile I knew so well as the sunglasses slid down his nose. A pair of piercing blue eyes stared at me and I felt things low in my stomach clench.

“Yes, my advice,” he repeated, now his tone free of accent, his eyes dancing merrily.

All I could do was stare at him. My gorgeous sun god was Edward. Oh, lord.


	3. Sunglasses and Candlelight

If only I’d had sunglasses. I was tempted to snatch Edward’s and put them on, but I didn’t think I’d manage that. Even if he was on vacation, which wasn’t exactly likely, I don’t think he would have let his guard down far enough to let me take them.

Of course, given the smug look on his face, he might have. But I wasn’t about to play his little mind games. Not in this lifetime. Nope, not at all.

This coming from the woman who’d been fantasizing about his body. Oh yeah.

Even if the thought of Edward, naked and in my bed, squicked me, I still couldn’t deny that he looked good. Especially when he wasn’t being looked at as ‘safe.’ I finally look at him the way every other normal woman must, and I go to hormones.

Why me?

But the more I thought about it, the less the idea bothered me. After all, wasn’t he the one who said I was his soul-mate? Yeah. Yeah, that was him.

What a thought.

So instead of tugging my hat lower and huddling in my lounge until he decided tormenting me was no more fun, I pushed the brim of my hat up and looked right back at him, a small playful smile curving my lips. Two could play at this game. We’d see how far he was willing to go.

For a moment I paused. Knowing Edward, it would go pretty far. But would he go all the way? This wasn’t a job. It was a childish dare, if somewhat unspoken. But only for a moment longer.

“Maybe.” I raised an eyebrow in question and asked, “Do you want to help?”

There. Gauntlet thrown. And if I hadn’t been watching him so closely I wouldn’t have seen the sudden intake of breath, the way his throat expanded slightly as he swallowed. I almost laughed right there. _I_ had just made Edward nervous.

Wow.

I sat up, being careful that I didn’t bunch up my towel, and leaned toward him. “Would you help me, Edward, if I told you I needed someone to fuck me?” I said softly, letting the words hang in the air between us. “Because I do. I need someone to fuck me senseless.”

My voice was breathy and low, full of heat and the desire that had fueled my fantasies since first seeing him in that glass elevator. I could feel my skin flush as the image of myself pushed up against the walls of those glass elevators, of him covering me, his mouth devouring me.

I hissed as I breathed in sharply, the surge of desire taking me by surprise as it arrowed through me. For his part, Edward was watching me, his mouth slightly open, his sunglasses now dangling, forgotten in his hand. The look in his eyes was hot, hot as fire, and I almost leaned over to kiss him.

I didn’t. The absurdity of it hit me before I could. Me, trying to seduce Edward. Even if it was only a game to me. It was just too weird.

And too perfect, I realized as his hand came up to touch my face. It was simply too perfect.

He leaned very close, and I thought he would kiss me. “Haven’t I always taken care of you, Anita?” he asked with a half smile. He leaned closer, his lips almost, almost touching mine. “Very. Good. Care,” he said, spacing the words out slowly, deliberately.

I took a long, shuddering breath as I eased away from him. I was playing with fire, I didn’t want to get burned. But I already felt like I was, just form his words. And he’d never even touched me!

I wondered what would happen when he did.

The thought was enough to make me push to me feet. Before he could stop me I was dropping the sarong and stepping into the cool water of the pool, dunking my head and trying to clear my mind of the last five minutes. Trying to clear it of Edward.

It didn’t work too well. Or maybe it would have worked better if he hadn’t been standing right behind me when my head broke the water. My hair was a wet, heavy mass against my back and one of his hands reached out and twined the fingers through it, tugging lightly until my back was pressed against the length of him.

My breathing was fast and hard now. I wanted to reach back and wrap my arms around his neck and tilt my head back so that his mouth could press against mine. I could feel one arm slide around my waist and drag me more firmly against him.

The other was still holding my hair, tugging a little more, until my head was leaning against his shoulder, throat exposed to him. I gasped as I felt his lips touch it softly, press against it, teeth biting lightly.

“Edward.” I said his name on a sigh and his lips rose, grazing my throat to my mouth before kissing me hungrily.

I couldn’t help it then. One hand clutched at the arm around my waist, the other slid up to pull his head closer. He was greedy as he kissed me, like a starving man, his tongue dipping into my mouth and then caressing mine.

I moaned softly against his mouth, trying to turn to face him. He held me fast, pulling his face back from mine, so that his clear blue eyes could look into mine. “This isn’t the place,” he said, his voice rough with need.

It took me a moment to remember that we were in the middle of a cold swimming pool, on the veranda of a resort, with dozens of people around. A fleeting glance confirmed that many were watching, Ronnie included, with a smug little smile on her face.

I made a mental note to get back at her for whatever she was smirking over.

My attention was pulled back when Edward took one of my hands and pulled my behind him, up the pool stairs and to my bag. He grabbed it up, sarong, towel and all, and then started towards the hotel. He hadn’t brought anything down with him, apparently.

We were almost to the elevator when my brain caught up with me. “Wait.”

“What?” he asked, spinning to face me. “Wait?” He sounded strained, impatient.

I nodded. “I’m not going to just jump into bed with you, Edward.”

“You’re not—” he broke off with a strangled laugh. “You—you’re— We’ve known each other for six years!” he almost exploded.

I looked at him almost evenly. “And that should tell you that I don’t just fuck anybody. Not even on your advice,” I said softly.

He glared at me as though he could bore a hole into my brain and make me change my mind. “Fine. I want to see you.”

“Huh?” Real sophisticated. It threw me.

“Tonight. Now. God,” he said, scrubbing a hand through his hair. His eyes were almost wild and I had to force myself to stand still and not press my body against his. “I want to see you, Anita. Naked and writhing under me.”

I gaped.

“But since you won’t agree to that, have dinner with me,” he finished, blithely ignoring how he had made my head explode. Which he had, into hundreds, nay, thousands of small icky pieces.

It was all I could do to nod numbly as he steered me into the elevator with a hard kiss and soft words. “Tonight. Two hours. Right here.”

I nodded again as the doors closed and as I rode it to the top I watched him through the glass walls.


	4. Strappy White Sandals

I was sitting on my bed and staring at my mostly empty suitcase, trying to let it sink in. every time it started to, my headed exploded into a billion and one pieces, and I wasn’t sure if it was good or bad that I had a date, a _date_ with Edward. It was probably bad.

Probably very bad.

Oh yes, very, very bad. A tingle ran through me as I remembered his hands and mouth on me. I wanted it again. Badly.

Oh God, so badly, I thought. I stood and stripped off my clothes as I headed for the shower. I needed to clean the chlorine from my body, try and erase the touch of his hands before it drove me crazy. The water was hot and sharp, like a thousand needles and I turned my face into it gratefully, letting it sluice down my body as I thought of nothing.

Nothing but Edward. Edward. Of all people. Oh _God_. _Edward_.

I groaned and shoved the handle all the way to cold, sucking in a breath as the icy water needled into me. This wasn’t a vacation. This was hell. Only in hell would I be getting ready for a date with Edward. And that wasn’t even the worst part.

I was impatient.

I was impatient for Edward. Impatient for his hands, his mouth, his… Oh, so not going there, I decided as I turned the water off and wrapped a towel around myself. I tied another one around my hair and tucked it up, heading out to the bedroom and trying to think of what I could wear. I didn’t really have anything suitable for a date with me, but I didn’t have time to buy something.

Oh, yes. Hell. Because only there would I make a comment about not having enough time to buy an outfit. For a date. With Edward.

I shouldn’t have been surprised, but I was when Ronnie was lounging on my bed on her stomach, feet kicked up and waving back and forth as she flipped through one of the resort brochures.

She looked up, one eyebrow arched, a smile playing at her mouth. “So, Anita. Anything you want to tell me?” She sounded so smug that I couldn’t help but glare and look away.

“No.”

She stood fluidly and came to stand by me. I was staring into the closet, at the myriad shorts, jeans and t-shirts. And the one pair of sandals I had, strappy white things that I only wore with shorts. Not a damned thing to wear.

“Anita,” she said. How much could be conveyed with one word? A lot.

“He’s an old friend,” I grumbled.

“Yes, I know.”

My head swung around and my mouth gaped. “You know who he is?”

She nodded. “Anita, I’m a P.I. Do you think I can’t find out what I want to know?” She laughed at my bemused expression. “I met him once before, several years back. You won’t remember, it was very short. But I checked up on him. ‘Ted Forrester, lives in Santa Fe, well known and successful bounty hunter,’” she recited.

Her eyes narrowed. “Previously engaged to one Donna Parnell, mother of two children.” She paused. “And you call him Edward.”

A colored and looked away. Edward might kill me if Ronnie found out about him. Worse, he might kill her. Then I’d have to kill him. And then I would be a bundle of horny energy with no one to fuck. I bit back a scream of frustration.

How did he do this to me? Wait, previously?

I glanced at Ronnie as I grabbed a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. “Previously?” I asked, trying to keep it casual. If Edward had ended it with Donna, I’d be greatly relieved. It would make her and the kids much safer.

It only then struck me how it sounded.

Ronnie snatched the clothes from my hands, her eyes flashing. “You didn’t know that he wasn’t engaged anymore? Christ, Anita. What the hell?” She was almost furious.

“What would it matter to you?” I snapped back. “You don’t want me with Richard or Jean-Claude. You don’t want me involved with the monsters even though you were practically engaged to Louis until you decided to take a break!”

She smiled, a little sad. “I never said I didn’t want you with the monsters, Anita. Just those two. And Louis and I are none of your business.”

It was my turn to raise an eyebrow. “Why does everyone in my life think they can nose into my relationships, but I can’t be nosy back?”

The look on her face made me pause. “Ronnie, look, I’m sorry. I don’t want to fight with you. I really don’t. I’m just… God, I’m nervous,” I said on an almost hysterical laugh.

She gave me a half smile. “You shouldn’t be. He’s gorgeous, single and loaded. If I weren’t already… Well, I’d snap him up.”

I smiled at that, trying hard to bite back the question, _If you weren’t already what?_ Instead I held my hand out for my clothes, which Ronnie was hanging back in my closet. “What are you doing?”

“You don’t honestly expect to wear something like that to dinner with a man you were playing tonsil hockey with in a pool in front of about a hundred people. Do you?” She was staring at me like I’d grown another head.

“Yes?” I replied, trying to figure out where she was trying to lead me to. Because if I didn’t wear those clothes, I went naked. Though, all things considered, that was kind of how I expected to end up anyway.

“No,” she said firmly, taking me by the arm and dragging me to her room. “I have a dress you can wear, it’ll fit you great since it’s too short on me.”

“Why’d you bring it if it was too short?”

“Why do you think, Anita?”

I didn’t respond.

In short order I found myself wearing a brightly green sundress with crisscrossed straps in the back. I wasn’t wearing a bit of black, not even the undies. I wasn’t wearing a bra at all, but only because the straps showed if I wore it and, even when they were white, it looked tacky. I had on my white sandals and even I had to admit I didn’t look bad.

Especially once Ronnie had worked her magic on my face and hair. She knew more about being girly than me. I could dress sexy, do make-up sexy, but not like she could. She had pulled my hair back into some interesting updo that left most of it falling in curls but out of my face.

I didn’t wear any make-up except a touch of blush on my cheeks and a smudge of faintly blue eye shadow on my eyes. And pink gloss. Normally I stay away from pink, but it wasn’t true pink. More of a rose mauve that really looked nice.

When she was done I was… pretty. Not hot, not sexy, not anything that Richard or Jean-Claude would ever term me. I looked more feminine than I had since high school, only several sizes smaller. And for once I didn’t have to worry about anything being ruined for work, because I hadn’t told anyone where I was.

At all.

Ronnie was smiling at me as I stood there, contemplating that thought, and wondering what Edward would say when he saw me. That was when I caught the glimpse of the clock. I was late. I was very late.

“Ronnie, I have to go, thank you so much, your hands work magic,” I said as I grabbed the small purse she had loaned me to go with the dress. Then I was out the door and down the hall, waiting impatiently for the elevator to get to my floor.

I rode it down, trying not to dance with my nervousness. I was on the verge of screaming from my nerves. Until I turned around and looked through the glass. The sun had gone down and the lobby was lit with soft light and candles, I could hear some music wafting through the glass.

He was sitting there, right in front of my elevator, leaning back on a bench. His hands were behind his head and he watching me, his eyes hidden in the shadow. I could see candlelight flickering off of his hair, turning it pale gold, and his tanned skin made the white of his shirt that much brighter, even accenting the khaki color of his pants.

I swallowed.

He stood up and paced over to the doors, waiting for them to open. I admit, I had my finger on the ‘door open’ button and was pressing it. When the doors finally slid open he stepped in, toward me, and pulled me against him.

“You look delicious,” he murmured as he lowered his mouth to mine. Delicious. Well, I don’t recall anyone ever saying that about me before. Except maybe a few were’s who wanted to eat me, but that was completely different.

We kissed and the whole world seemed to stop. There was no music, no candlelight, nothing but skin on skin and his arms pulling me tight against him.

It came bleeding back as he pulled away, laying delicate kisses on my jaw line as he trailed a finger down my shoulder and arm. I shivered. “We should go, right?” I asked, my voice soft and husky.

It didn’t sound like me and it was a little frightening. The boys had never done this to me. No one had, and that was a truly scary thought, because Jean-Claude had centuries of experience in seduction, and he didn’t hold a candle to Edward.

I leaned forward and kissed him softly on his smiling lips. He nodded. “We have reservations. This,” and he made a small gesture with his hand, stroking down my body, “will have to wait for later.”

There was no question in my mind what ‘this’ was. And there was no way I wasn’t getting it. So I smiled. “Yes. Later.”


	5. La Joie and Sauternes

I followed him into the crowded dining area of the hotel’s signature bar and grille. It smelled wonderful and my stomach growled, reminding me that it had been hours since I’d last eaten. I hadn’t been into the restaurant before, Ronnie and I had contented ourselves with room service and the café and bar by the pool. Supplemented with the occasional bag of McDonald’s.

The dining room was very open and on the harbor side of the hotel. There were large paned windows that showed the running lights from the boats, as well as the light house. The floor was a light wood that matched the tables and chairs. Deep blue cloths covered the tables and the plates were a bright, sunny yellow.

I half expected for us to be seated at one of the few empty ones I saw, but when Edward was finished talking to the maitre’ d that he’d found, we were led outside onto a small, private deck. There were a handful of tables there, and only one other was occupied.

For some reason, I don’t think that they came cheap. The tables were the same pale wood, and the cloth runners looked the same, but on closer inspection I could see that the material was much finer. The plates were still covered in sunshine, but this time it was in intricate designs on pale white porcelain.

The maitre’d had stepped up to hold out my chair for me when Edward stepped in front of him. His hands were tight on my arm, possessive. He held the chair out and I sat, careful as he pushed it in. I was already in a dress, it wouldn’t kill me to be a lady. Just this once.

Besides, he was acting so Neanderthal that it was funny.

There was silence as a menu was held out for our inspection. I shrugged. It was wine, and I don’t know much about them. Edward glanced up and down it before ordering one, something called _La Joie_ that was listed for over $125 a bottle. I bit my tongue. If he wanted to spend that much on a bottle of wine, that was fine with me.

But it did mean I had to drink at least a glass of it, which would be only be polite. I don’t really like wine all that much, Jean-Claude’s tastes in it—the only reason why I drink it in the first place—run to very strong flavored and bold wines. Usually merlots and burgundies. You know, the dark reds that taste like… Well, we won’t go there.

At any rate, I didn’t think on it too much as I glanced over the actual menu, not wanting to break the silence. It was comfortable, if tense, and I was too afraid of what I would say. My luck, my mouth would bypass my brain and tell Edward to fuck me on the table.

Gah.

Not a good mental image, especially not when I wanted it so much. And he already would have fucked me senseless if I hadn’t demanded that we wait. After all, we both already knew the outcome of this, didn’t we? Mindless sex, followed by me kicking myself in the head for fucking my best friend.

The menu fluttered in my hands as I sat it down on the table. What had I just said? My best friend? I retrained myself from shaking my head vigorously, despite the fact that I really, really wanted to. Edward was so not my best friend. Ronnie was. Ronnie, the one who had talked me on this stupid trip and I would never be entertaining thoughts of sleeping with Edward if it hadn’t been for her.

Damn Richard and double damn Jean-Claude for being reasonable and not wanting to see me. Damn Ronnie too, for making me come on this blasted vacation. And without weapons. Though I had brought the seacamps that Edward had given me years ago. And damn him too, for looking the way he did. Why couldn’t he be just some gorgeous guy that I don’t know?

Our waiter brought the wine while I was still glaring at the menu. I wasn’t reading it; I had no idea what I wanted. Actually, I did. But I wasn’t so sure I could walk away from this easily. I wasn’t really sure I could walk away at all, anymore.

Edward. Fuck.

He made a show out of taking the cork from the waiter and sniffing it. It wouldn’t surprise me if he did know about wines, because he seemed to know about everything. Including me. Except he’d conveniently forgotten that I don’t drink wine.

Of course, things changed, I decided as I took my first sip of the amethyst colored wine. It was good. Surprisingly, and shockingly. I could taste a very rich berry flavor, strong and vibrant. There was a hint of dark coffee underneath that, and something spicy. And vanilla. That, I knew in a heartbeat. It made me think of Nathaniel, and the pard.

I sipped it carefully, not wanting to gulp it. For his part, Edward only sipped his slowly while he glanced over the menu. He didn’t look at me or say a word. I lowered my eyes back to my own menu, trying to decide what I wanted.

I was half way through my glass and debating between mahi-mahi and the bourbon shrimp, again, when I felt his hand on mine. I looked up, heart pounding. His eyes were on mine and his lips slightly parted. I swallowed. Celibacy and I so do not agree with each other.

“Do you know what you want?” he asked quietly, his fingers threading through my slowly, squeezing slightly.

I tried smiling. I’m not sure if it worked, but I think it did because he smiled back. In that moment I saw how truly handsome he could be. An unguarded smile, that even reached his eyes. Oh god.

I nodded, shaking off the slight stupor I was in. “I think I’m going to have the bourbon shrimp again.” I smiled again at him and tried to ignore the pressure of his hand on mine. Then I got blunt. “What are you doing here, Edward?”

He laughed, and again I was struck by how it sounded when he was being guarded. “There’s the Anita Blake I know,” he said on the end of it. He looked at me, his blue eyes bright in the soft lights. “I could say that I missed you.”

It was my turn to laugh. “No, Edward. For some reason, I think that you didn’t know I was here until the pool today. Otherwise we’d already be ass deep in alligators.”

And I almost meant that literally. I’d heard of were-alligators in the Florida swamps. For some reason, I really didn’t want to meet up with one. It was bad enough with my usual were’s, but not that. That was just too… nuts. It’d be as bad as a were-flea. And talk about spying.

He took his hand back, crossing his arms as he leaned back in his chair. “I thought I saw you here yesterday. When I didn’t find your name on the hotel’s registry, I started checking for your friends’ names.”

“Ah,” was all I could say. Naturally, Edward would know who Ronnie was. He knew everything.

“I think the question is what are _you_ doing here,” he said, neatly turning the question back on me.

“I asked first.”

He shrugged. “Vacation. I needed to get away.”

I raised an eyebrow and started to reply when the waiter came back to take our orders. It took mere moments for Edward to efficiently give the man our order and send him away. I noticed that he had some body language going on and it made me realize that Edward really wanted to be alone with me. I pushed that thought firmly out of mind. I didn’t need to think about being alone with Edward.

“What did you need to get away from? Donna?” My voice was sharp; I was kind of pissed that I hadn’t given her a thought when Edward was in the pool with me. I was really pissed that he wouldn’t tell me before he proceeded to kiss me like that.

The surprise on his face was real. “How did you know?”

“I have my sources,” I said smugly.

“Did you know before, or after?” he asked, thereby wiping the smugness from my face.

“Bastard,” I muttered as I took a deep drink of the wine. It emptied the glass and he solicitously poured me some more. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“What is there to tell?” he said. Then he sighed. “She thought we were having an affair. She thinks I’m in love with you.”

Are you? I wanted to ask. It was on the tip of my tongue. But I didn’t. I didn’t really want to know the answer.

“But what made her end it?” I asked, toying with my wine.

He was looking straight at me when he answered. “I went to St. Louis.”

I should ask, I thought to myself. I should ask him why. Was he coming to see me? Was he coming to kill me? I found that hard to believe after this afternoon. He wouldn’t have kissed me like that, touched me like that, if he wanted me dead. He was an immaculate actor, but not even he was that good.

But still, the doubt was there. And I didn’t ask.

Instead I changed the subject all together. It was easy, the food had come. We made small talk over absolutely nothing while we ate, the most interesting and in-depth part coming when we debated over guns. Beretta versus Browning, to be exact, and the exemplary attributes of Mossberg shotguns.

I barely tasted the food and wine, which we had drunk nearly half of when dinner was over. It was taken when they cleared the table, and I had presence enough of mind to complain to Edward.

“That was expensive; why not take it back to your room, Edward?” And if he didn’t want to, I most certainly would. I was beginning to feel very relaxed from it, though not drunk or even tipsy. Just not as on edge as I usually was.

He laughed softly. “Trust me, Anita. Please?”

I looked at him, bemused. “I do trust you.”

Maybe I should change that, though. The waiter came back with a smaller menu, accompanied by the larger wine menu. I glanced at him before scooting my chair around so that I was sitting next to him. I wanted to see what he was up to.

It was a dessert menu, I should have known. All the men in my life love it when I eat chocolate. But oddly enough, his finger was nowhere near the chocolate. It was resting next to something called _Apricot Soufflé with Beaumes de Venise_ , and he was telling the waiter to bring it with cream instead of ice cream. I looked up at him as he was speaking and sighed.

He’d asked me to trust him. Apparently I was supposed to trust him to order dessert. And wine, I realized as he flicked it open expertly. This time he didn’t even glance over the selection, he went straight to the third page and laid his finger on one.

L'Extravagant Sauternes, it was called, and it was three hundred dollars for a… For a half-bottle, I realized as I looked closer. And he had just ordered a full one. “Edward,” I hissed as the waiter bowed and walked away, menus in hand. “You can’t just fork over that much money for wine.”

He smiled, and it was charming. “Of course I can, Anita. How many times do I get to take you to dinner?”

Okay, he had a point. “But does that make this the only time?” I shot back, my chest tight with fear. What if he said yes? What if he said no? I didn’t know which one I wanted him to say more.

He didn’t answer me. Or maybe he did, but not in the way I expected him to. He leaned forward, one arm curving around the back of my chair, and his lips pressing softly against mine. I sighed as I leaned into the kiss, and he breathed it in.

“Anita,” he murmured softly against my mouth. “You drive me crazy, you know that?”

I smiled, not letting him pull his arm back, instead leaning into him and snuggling my head under his chin. For one night, at least, I could pretend that I was just like everyone else. Or at least like Edward. I felt him press his lips against the top of my head, and then he smoothed my hair back to the side.

It felt… good. Pleasant, just sitting here and cuddling with him. Maybe because I trusted him so implicitly. Maybe because he had said he was my soul-mate. That he felt that connected with me said something. Something other than creepy, too. None of the men in my life except him had ever said anything like that.

Only empty promises and dragging me into the problems.

Fuck them.

I don’t know how long we sat like that, it felt like hours even though I know that it wasn’t anywhere close. We just sat there together, comfortable with each other like we belonged. Watching the boats in the harbor and listening the muffled sound of waves on the beach.

We were interrupted by the waiter. I could have shot him for that. I really could have.

I didn’t. I was good.

Besides the fact that I didn’t have a gun with me. It didn’t mean I couldn’t stab him, though. But the aroma of the dessert was enough to make me think twice about killing the poor man. That and the distracting line of Edward’s jaw as I sat up.

He really was efficient. The waiter didn’t hang around for anything. At all. He just left the wine and dessert, and two clean glasses, and fled. Almost. He walked, albeit quickly.

For his part, Edward took it in stride. He uncorked the wine and poured one glass, leaving the other one empty. He took a sip and smiled, then offered it to me. It was like honey on my tongue. Spiced honey, sweet and strong.

He kissed me again, and I could taste the lingering flavor of it on his mouth, though it didn’t cover the undertone that was purely him. And when he pulled back he offered me a bite of the soufflé. It was excellent, though I’m no judge of fine food.

It was sweet, with a faint citrus tang to it, more sweet than oranges though. That must have been the apricots, I thought, then took another sip of the wine. The same flavor now burst through my mouth, and I marveled at the apricot and orange tang to it.

Honeyed apricots. That was what it tasted like. And now him, I thought, as I kissed him again.

“I’m not really very hungry, anymore,” I whispered.

He smiled and threaded his fingers through mine, pulling me up as he stood. He grabbed the wine and we left, heading for the glass elevators where I had seen him for the first time that afternoon. Seen him and wanted him.

We waited impatiently for one to come to the bottom floor, and then even more so for it to empty. There were several people behind us waiting too, but Edward simply stared at them and none offered to get in with us.

The doors slid closed and the elevator started to rise, then he pushed me against the wall. The glass was cool under my shoulders and I wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing him. The bottled was pressed to my side as he slid his other arm behind me and yanked me against him.

“I want you, Anita,” he said harshly, covering my mouth with his. “Tell me you won’t say no.”

“I won’t,” I breathed.

“I want to drink the wine from your skin,” he said as he kissed me hard. “I want to touch every part of you.”

I moaned softly as his hand slid lower to slide under my skirt. “Please,” I said, begged.

He smiled at me as the elevator slowed and stopped, his eyes feral. Maybe if I had been paying more attention, I would have been frightened. But I didn’t care. All I wanted was to feel his skin against me. “Please, Edward,” I said, savoring the feel of his hand on my skin.

“You’re going to beg,” he said.

I wasn’t sure if it was a threat, or a promise. I was thinking both.


	6. Really Good Wine

My hands were shaking as he swiped his key card at his door and led me in. the wine went on the nightstand, forgotten for the moment as he went about doing things that I didn’t really notice. I was, instead, taken with the view. He had an ocean view, very expensive, very worth it.

I walked out on to the balcony, all nerves gone and desire abated as I enjoyed the rush of the wind from the water, cooling against my hot skin. He was on the top floor. Somehow I should have known that, instead of only realizing it when I was already in his room. Not a penthouse room, but a nice one.

I felt him behind me, a heated presence, and relaxed back a bit. Where our skin touched it was like electricity, sharp and dangerous. And hot. I twisted around in his arms and wrapped mine around his neck. His hands were heavy on my hips, fingers sliding the material of my dress over them.

I shivered and raised my mouth to his, opening for him when he kissed me. I leaned into him, eager for the heat of his body. A smile curved my lips as I felt him hard against me, and I couldn’t hold back the soft moan that built inside my throat.

“Edward,” I said, shamelessly begging for him to touch me. To fuck me.

He shifted me around so that I was pressed up against the glass of the sliding glass door. The wind whipped past us through the open side, creating a whistling noise and raising goose bumps on my skin. No, that was him. All him, I decided as his mouth slid down my throat and to my shoulder.

His fingers tugged impatiently as the strap and he pushed it down, mouth dropping lower to the slope of my breast. I threw my head back and sighed with pleasure. His teeth bit in gently and I groaned his name, my fingers curling through his hair.

His face came back up to mine and his eyes were blue fire. He kissed me again and slid a hand between us, up under the skirt, his fingers slipping easily under my panties and into me. “Oh,” I sighed and arched my back. He pushed deeper his face pressing against my neck.

“Inside,” he said roughly.

I took me a moment to realize what he meant, and I tried not to whimper as he withdrew his fingers. I felt so wanton, so erotic. He slipped his fingers into his mouth and sucked as he pressed himself against me. For a moment I wasn’t so sure I had understood him, but before I could think any more he was taking me inside, his hands tight on my arms.

This time I found myself pressed down into the mattress as he kissed me. I could taste myself on him and suddenly, all I wanted to do was taste him. He was stronger than me, I couldn’t force him off of me, but he rolled willingly enough when he realized that I wasn’t trying to stop him, or leave.

I only wanted to be on top.

I quickly slid the sandals off my feet and threw them over my shoulder. I think they landed somewhere near the door, but I didn’t know and didn’t care. I straddled him, feeling him pressed firmly against me. The only thing that separated us, that kept him from sliding into me where our clothes, and a part of me regretted that we weren’t already naked.

The other part of me was glad that it wouldn’t be over that quickly.

He slid his hands up my thighs and under the skirt, pushing it up past my hips. I raised my arms and he slipped it easily over my head, tossing it away. His mouth was hot as it closed over one nipple. I let my head fall back, my hands resting on shoulders and trying to stay still, instead of pulling him closer.

I did jump when I felt cool liquid rushing down my skin. My head jerked up and I saw the devilish look in his eyes as he drizzled the Sauternes down my breast. He was still looking at me as his tongue flicked out to lap it from my skin, darting across the nipple and making it bunch tighter. I gasped at the feel of the wet warmth on top of the wine.

“I told you I wanted to drink the wine from your skin,” he murmured as he slowly lapped the rest up before pouring it down my other breast. I could only moan as he lowered his head to it.

“Stop,” I gasped as I shifted on top of him. I cried out, suddenly surprised as the unexpected orgasm swept through me. My breathing was ragged and I could see the confusion and hurt on his face.

I raised a hand to his cheek, anxious to sooth it away, but I couldn’t. I was still trying to relearn how to breathe. I could only press my face into his neck, breathing in the soft, musky scent of him and trying to regain my voice.

“Edward,” I tried. It was soft and very raw. I swallowed.

But I didn’t know what to say. No one had ever done that to me, held my passion in their hands so quickly and effortlessly. It had frightened me just a little when I realized exactly what he could to me.

I raised my head and met his eyes, trying to let him see, unsure of exactly what was happening between us. His face had faded into the cool blankness that I knew so well. But it was there for me to see what he felt, if only I knew what to look for.

I did.

The skin around his eyes and mouth had tightened imperceptibly. The muscles of his jaw and neck were tense, hard and knotted under that smooth bronzed skin. I slid my fingers to his hair, pulling his mouth towards mine and kissing him gently.

“I’m sorry,” I breathed into his mouth. My hands dropped down to his arms and I slid my hands down until I was holding his wrists. I couldn’t touch his hands, they were tight on my back. Tense. Afraid, I think.

“Please touch me, Edward,” I whispered softly. So very softly. “I’m begging. Didn’t you say I would beg?”

A faint smile was on his lips and he leaned forward, kissing me as softly as I had before, unexpectedly tender. The panic and fear rose inside again, but I pushed it back down, not wanting to question this, just wanting to feel. Questions were for the light of day, passion and, yes, tenderness, were best for the night.

“Anita,” he said, and then he was kissing me with a kind of desperate frustration. Hard and fast, but still careful. My hips rode forward a bit and I could still feel him hard between my legs. I dropped my hands to skim across the front of his pants and then slid them under his shirt, running my fingers across his stomach before unbuttoning it carefully.

He lowered his mouth back to my breasts and I sighed. I pushed my hands against his shoulders. He went back willingly, and I slid the shirt down his arms enough to keep them at his sides before shifting myself lower on his legs.

His zipper was difficult to undo with the pressure he was putting on it from underneath and I broke it as I tried sliding it down. Not that I was nervous. Just eager. The button went easily and he shifted his hips up as I slid the pants down his legs, tugging them and his shoes off in one rough motion.

He wasn’t wearing anything underneath.

Go figure.

It put him at a disadvantage, I still had my underwear. But it didn’t matter. I crawled up over his legs and took the length of him in my hand, glancing up at him for a moment as I contemplated what I was about to do. I smiled.

My hand reached out and took the half empty bottle of wine from where it sat precariously on the bed. A moment later the sweet liquid was glistening on his skin and he was gasping and swaying as its cold seeped into him.

Seconds later I was sliding my mouth over him. The mingled flavors of the citrus sweet wine and the saltier flavor of his skin mingled in an unexpectedly pleasant way, and I took him in as far as I could, curling my hand around the base and squeezing up slightly.

He groaned. His eyes were closed and his head was tilted back so I could enjoy the line of his neck as I sucked and licked at him. I stopped when his hips began to squirm forward. There would be no early release for him, not tonight.

I breathed in as I poured some more of the wine across his stomach and slid my tongue across the firm skin there, lapping it up and trying to keep from straddling him right there. His hands were curled into the bedspread and his jaw was clenched, this time in pleasure instead of pain. I smiled.

And then shrieked as he sat up and flipped me over. For a moment I thought he would rip my panties off, but he didn’t. He kissed me hard and only tugged them down. I moaned again as he slid two fingers inside me, almost roughly but not painful.

He smiled as he realized I was ready for him and with a long, slow thrust buried himself in me. I cried out as he stretched me, my legs wrapping around his waist as his weight came to rest on top of me. I opened my eyes to stare into his.

“You’re sure?” he asked me, soft and hesitant.

I groaned with frustration and no small amount of humor. “It’s a little late for that question, don’t you think, Edward?” I asked. “Please,” I whispered, “please fuck me.”

He lips pressed against mine, his tongue slipping into my mouth to twirl lazily with mine as he began a slow and steady rhythm. I sighed with pleasure as my body wrapped about his, taking him in.

“Faster,” I whispered as I felt another orgasm building. His breathing was coming a little more ragged, and I could feel his heart beating faster as we both came closer and closer to the edge.

He faltered slightly, his voice tight as he whispered, “I won’t last much longer.”

It made me wonder, but I ignored it. “Please, Edward,” I moaned again, and he moved faster and harder inside me, pushing me up and up until I closed my eyes, crying out his name as I came.

He thrust once, twice more before I felt him slide deep, as far as he could go, into me. I tightened around him and, I admit it, moaned as he came, coming very close to a third orgasm as he did. I wrapped my arms around him, pulling his face to mine and kissed him before he rolled off and out of me, pulling me into the crook of his arm.

We lay there, afterward, for a long while, neither willing to move as the curtains moved in the breeze. I was nearly asleep when he shifted to the side, rolling towards me. I grumbled a complaint as he sat up and pulled something out from underneath him.

It was the now empty bottle of Sauternes.

He raised one eyebrow as he dangled it in front of me as he settled back down, pulling me back into his arm and letting me squirm my head around till I was comfortable. Then he sat it on my stomach and rolled to look at me.

“It really is good wine, you know,” he said softly.

I laughed.


	7. The Morning After

I woke to sunlight and the sounds of distant laughter and waves, lapping at the beach. The odd motor ran through it, followed be shrieks and yells. There was a heavy weight across my stomach and thighs, and I stretched, opening my eyes slowly to the bright light.

Edward’s head was nestled on my belly, one arm curving under my legs, the other wrapped possessively across my thighs. I smiled at his even breathing, and more so when he started to stir, his hands softly caressing my leg and rising higher to my naked hip.

His head tilted up a bit until he could see me, and I smiled at him. “Hey,” I said softly, not wanting to break the peace with too many words or possible regrets. I didn’t have any, and I was pretty sure that he didn’t either.

But no sense in ruining a good thing.

He just stared at me, and I could feel myself start to tense up, waiting for the inevitable rejection. Then he rolled over and pressed a kiss to my stomach, before coming further up to press his mouth to mine. My lips curved under his, and I lay back, surrendering myself to the kiss.

His hands slid down my body to my thigh, pulling it up until it was wrapped around him, and I could feel pressing into my belly, hot and hard. I wiggled until I was shifted enough that I could wrap both legs around his waist. I used the leverage to move higher up under him, never breaking the kiss, until I could feel him start to slide into me.

I sighed into his mouth as I stretched to accommodate him. It was slower this time, more gentle, as his hips moved and my heels dug into the small of his back. I was moaning softly, amazed at how shameless I was as I begged him to fuck me.

His fingers twisted in my hair, pulling my head back until my throat was exposed to his mouth. He attacked it with kisses, soft, nibbling kisses as I cried out. My hands clung to his back as I arched underneath, nearly crying as I came, and he swallowed it with a kiss, thrusting harder until his own body shuddered.

We lay there like that for a long time, my legs wrapped around him, his face nuzzled into my neck. I didn’t want to move, I felt so content. With Edward holding me, I felt content.

That one thought was enough to have me pushing at him to get off me, and I rolled over and sat up. “What time is it?” I asked, trying to cover up my sudden fear.

I could feel his eyes one me as I picked up the sheet that had been tossed to the floor. Wrapping it around me I turned back to him, trying to pretend everything was fine and that I hadn’t just panicked.

He was still watching me, his face had slipped back its mask and I pulled the edges of the sheet tighter around me. Guilt is a bitch. So is being self-conscious. I had had sex with him. Twice. But I still felt naked.

Well, I was. So whatever.

He, on the other hand, was not so modest. Edward was laying on the bed, one leg crooked up, and his better pieces laying there for all the world to see. Okay, maybe just me, but I still hated him a little for not being more… like me, I guess.

I felt my cheeks get warm and shook my head, almost running for the bathroom. Once the door was closed, I felt better. I felt even more better after I had locked it. I took a moment to glance around, not really surprised by the size and lavishness of the bathroom. But it did make me rethink my set up at home.

The tub was a deep, large whirlpool deal, with three steps made of marble or something similar. The shower was also oversized and could easily fit a half dozen people. The walls were lined in the same marble type tile, and the doors were clouded glass.

I smiled as I opened one door and reached in to turn the shower on. I was surprised when the water hit me coming straight out from the wall. It soaked the sheet, and I rolled my eyes. It just wasn’t my day, but once I had dropped the sheet and tossed it outside, it felt excellent.

It was strong and almost too hot as it came down on my head. The little sprayers that had it aimed at my back felt marvelous, and I turned around, pulling my hair to the side to give them better access. My eyes were closed and the water was streaming over my face.

Then I felt, more than heard, the click as the shower door was opened and closed. A mouth kissed my neck and I tried very hard not to raise my face to his. Instead I turned away from him, facing the water.

“I locked the door,” I said.

Edward laughed. “And locked doors make a difference?”

I hid my smile. He had a point. I was all set to be angry with him when I felt his hands moving through my hair. It was heavy and wet, and I could feel his fingers massaging my scalp. “Close your eyes,” he said, saving me just before the shampoo suds started to run down my forehead.

“Just relax, Anita. I’ll take care of you,” he whispered as he turned me and tilted my head back to rinse the soap. I sighed as his lips pressed against my neck again, trying to think of things other than the fact that it was his naked body sliding against mine in the water.

His hands slid across my skin, silky smooth with soap, and I shuddered, ignoring the way my nipples hardened and my skin tingled where he had touched me. His hands slid between my legs, trying to be impersonal but still teasing me as he washed me. Then he pushed me back under the water, rinsing me but not kissing me again.

He turned back to the water, letting it rush in heated waves over my breasts and stomach and down my thighs. I sighed as his hands worked back into my hair. The conditioner was cold after all of the hot water and steam, but it warmed in a few minutes and I settled back into him, letting my back lean against the long, hard line of his body.

His hands slid down to my neck, massaging it lightly, then to my shoulders. I shivered as they slid around and his arms wrapped about me. I was holding onto his arms with my own before I thought about it, once again feeling that safe feeling.

My eyes flew open. “Edward,” I began, “this is…” I stopped. I didn’t know what to call it. An affair? No, neither of us was seeing anyone else. A fling? Possibly. A relationship… no. Never.

“This is uncomplicated, Anita,” he whispered. I barely heard it over the dull roar of the shower.

It sounded… I don’t know. He sounded like he regretted it. I turned in his arms, my hands resting on his hips, ignoring the way he was again hard against my stomach.

“Regrets?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No, I don’t regret this.”

He looked like he was going to say more, but a phone began ringing. Without waiting for a response to the phone I stepped back and began rinsing myself off. He watched me for a moment longer then stepped out of the shower and went to the phone.

He never said who it was when I finally got out of the shower. He was lying on the freshly made bed watching television in an old pair of jeans. Thank god for housekeeping, though I hate to think of any of the reactions to the mess we had made last night.

I only had the dress so I rummaged around in his closet. When I was finished I had a plain white shirt, a pair of gray boxers, and another towel for my hair. I wrapped it around my head before pulling the boxers on and yanking the shirt over the towel and my head.

It was gaping on my chest. “I think I stretched your shirt out, Edward,” I said as I sat on the bed beside him. He had the remote control on his stomach and one arm curled behind his bed. The arm nearest to me was stretched across the pillow next to him.

I heard a grunt as I tipped my head over and began towel drying my hair. Then, “I have more, you can keep it.” I laughed as I flipped my hair back up, sending little droplets of water to land across him.

He glared at me, but I ignored him as I settled back into the pillow and, not so coincidentally, his arm. It tensed beneath me for a moment, then curled around my shoulders, pulling me a little tighter against his side. I obliged by rolling into him and slinging a leg across his.

“What were you watching?” I asked casually as I nestled my wet head onto his chest. He grimaced and pushed my hair down from his face.

“Anita, you’re wet all over,” he said. “Wait, what do you mean what was I watching?”

I snickered as I grabbed the remote and held it behind my back so that he couldn’t reach it. “Exactly what I said, Edward. What _were_ you watching. I have the remote now, we watch whatever I want to.”

I looked up at him, and for a split second I thought he’d let it go. After all, I don’t usually watch sappy movies. I was wrong. Within seconds he had flipped me over so that I was no longer lying next to him, but under him.

The smile on his face was wicked and delightful. Whatever reservations I had had before were melting quickly as one hand held my wrists, complete with my hand around the remote, and the other tugged and the boxers I wore.

There was a faint tear and a muffled curse as he finally got them off, and I laughed. “Issues?” I teased. It was completely unlike me, neither of us was acting normal, but we didn’t stop.

He worked his pants down around his knees, then kicked them off as he pushed the shirt up, mouth closing over one nipple. He still held my wrists, and I struggled slightly, delighting in the confinement. I always had to be in control, never let anyone else take charge.

But Edward was the same way, and I trusted him. His mouth came up to mine and fed at it hungrily as his free hand slid between my parted thighs, one finger sliding into me as his thumb rubbed lightly against my clitoris. I cried out, back arching, and he smiled before sliding into me.

His thumb stayed still as he pushed into me, until he was buried to the hilt. Then he pressed, sending pleasure coursing through my body. He pulled back out, beginning a slow motion that was driving me crazy. I was so close, so very close, but he never went fast enough as he held me there.

My legs wrapped around his body and he groaned when I squeezed my thighs. “Anita,” he muttered, and then I was upended, with him underneath me and stabbing sharply into me. I wiggled my hips and we both moaned.

Now I rode him, as slowly as he had fucked me, never letting him get close, never letting him speed the pace. He still held my arms trapped, this time behind me as he thrust into me from underneath.

“Anita,” he said hoarsely. I let my head tilt back and sped up the pace. The sound of skin on skin was loud over the television, and I rode him, taking him inside me deeply before I heard him groan. His hands clenched around my wrists, and I thought that I might have bruises later, but then it didn’t matter as he sat up and captured my mouth with his.

“Together,” he was saying, but it sounded so far away. “Come with me, Anita,” he said, and I did, clenching around him as we both hit the peak. I cried out into him mouth, tongue seeking his as my orgasm shook me hard.

There were tears in my eyes when I opened them, and Edward was smoothing my still wet hair back from my face and pressing gentle kisses across my forehead. “Anita, Anita,” he was saying, tired and quiet.

I looked up at him as he lay me down on the bed, pulling me into his arms. I smiled up at him and yawned. “What, Edward?” I asked.

He kissed my forehead again, and smiled at me. “Nothing. It’s okay, just go to sleep.”

I made a mental note to pump him for information later, but all I wanted right then was to sleep. Good sex can make you tired. And it was all I seemed to have with Edward.


	8. More Fair Than She

I woke to the sounds of surf on the beach and a low murmuring voice. I smiled as I recognized the soft tones of Edward’s voice and sat up, stretching my arms up and letting my back pop. I felt good. Surprisingly good, since I’d spent most of the night and half the day getting fucked senseless. By Edward.

Oddly enough, the idea wasn’t as weird as it had been yesterday.

I sat up pulled the sheet up around me, gathering until it was draped just under my arms and stood. It fell in long, almost elegant folds around me and I smiled. It was a purely female thing. I felt… wanted, I guess.

It’d been a long time since I had hopped into bed with someone intending only pleasure. Usually there was an ulterior motive, whether or nor it was my idea or not. And it felt good. I felt good.

I was smiling as I followed the sound of his voice to the balcony. It was almost night again, and I bit back the surprised laugh that bubbled up as I stepped through filmy curtains into the warm air. He was lounging on a wicker loveseat that looked artfully arranged on the medium sized balcony.

At least, it looked that way. Besides, I’m sure they paid someone a lot of money to decide just what angle the loveseat should be at behind the low wicker coffee table. They’d probably have a fit if they saw his feet propped up on it.

They’d have a heart attack if they knew I was wondering if the table would hold up for sex.

Edward was talking on the phone, and I frowned as he lowered his voice slightly. I knew he had secrets, but I really didn’t want or need them shoved in my face right then. It pissed me off. And hurt. Not a lot, just a little. Like when they go to prick your finger for blood.

Maybe that’s not so good an analogy, because that hurts pretty decently.

Then he looked up at me and smiled. I barely heard him say, “I’ll call you later this week, Ryan. I’ve got better things to do.” He turned the phone off and tossed it onto the table, then held an arm out to me. I sat next to him, tucking my legs up and pulling the sheet around me against the breeze.

We sat there watching as the sun sank below the horizon, me snuggled into his side with his arm holding me to him. It made a beautiful picture with the reds and pinks and purples bleeding to fire at the water’s edge. And when the ocean reflected it, it only doubled the beauty of it.

The moon was well into the sky before either one of us moved again. It was Edward who moved and pressed a kiss to my temple before whispering to me, “Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief that thou, her maiden, art far more fair than she.”

I smiled and turned to him. “You know Shakespeare?” I asked, surprised. Somehow, no matter how competent he was with a gun, I could still be amazed when he did something more mundane. Like a normal person.

He flashed me a smile. “O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?”

I laughed. If anything, he was more than satisfied. But my interest was aroused, and I knew a little Shakespeare myself, even if it was only Romeo & Juliet.

“What satisfaction canst thou have tonight?” I said back, running my fingers across his bare chest and to the button of the blue jeans that sagged at his waist.

“The exchange of thy love's faithful vow for mine,” he shot back, leaning closer to me. The sheet was gathered in his hand, he and he parted the sheet, pressing his mouth to my collarbone before skimming lower to nip at my breast.

“I gave thee mine before thou didst request it: And yet I would it were to give again.”

God, was that really my voice? It sounded soft and breathy. It sounded like Juliet. Where was Edward when I was trying out for the school play? I would have had the role, and then I would have known more than the few measly lines I was trading with Edward.

“Wouldst thou withdraw it?” he whispered as his mouth covered mine. I moaned into it and he pulled me tight against him, turning so that I was straddling him.

The sheet was forgotten and pooling around my waist as his hands ran up my back, caressing me to new heights of desire. I moaned into his mouth again, changing the angle of my head so that I could kiss him better.

His hands were fumbling at his jeans, the fingers brushing against me every few moments as he struggled to undo the button and zipper and shove them down. And then they were gone, out form under me and he was pressing sharply inside me.

I cried out as he thrust, and then he was inside me and my face was buried in neck. I heard someone whimpering and it took me a second to realize that it was me. It sounded so erotic, so unashamed, and I could feel my skin tingling where his mouth was.

“God, Edward,” I said, “don’t stop.”

“Never,” he said back harshly, kissing me, his blue eyes piercing into mine.

It was enough, my body shuddered as the coiled tension in my belly exploded in one giant ball of light and fire, and I cried out his name, clinging to him as I rode him. My own climax was enough to push him over the edge, and I felt him inside me, hot and hard as he came, groaning my name as he pressed his forehead to mine, lips barely touching my own.

Intense. It was the only word I could think of as I sat there in his lap with him still inside me. The edges of the orgasm were still tingling through my body, and I giggled at the sensation. It was pleasant, and pleasurable. It was intense.

“Is it always like that?” I whispered to him when he finally opened his eyes again.

He smiled. “Only with you, Anita. Only with you.”

I kissed him again and gently disentangled myself and my sheet from him, leaving him on his own in the cooler night air. I stopped at the open door, the curtains again billowing out around me, and looked back at him.

“I’m going to get a shower,” I said. “Then I want food.”

He nodded as he stood and grabbed his jeans so that they didn’t trip him. It took me a moment to realize that he was following me. And when I did I shook my head, saying, “By myself, Edward.”

He smiled at me, and it was far more calculating than anything I’d seen since I’d woke up. “We’ll see.”

Then he laughed. “Fine, fine. Go. Shower. Do your girl stuff. I’ll take care of dinner.”

I headed to the bathroom, laughing as I caught the last thing he said to me.

“For what purpose, love?”

It was the next line, the one that we had… gotten too preoccupied to get to. Trust Edward to remember.


	9. Going Up

“Wake up, sleepyhead,” someone was saying into my ear, too close and too loud for me to ignore it.

“Go ‘way, sleeping,” I muttered as I pulled the pillow over my head.

“Anita,” Ronnie was saying in a sing-song voice. “Get up, put some clothes on. I don’t want to see your naked butt anymore.”

That had me sitting straight up looking around. Sure enough, Ronnie was sitting next to me on the bed, and I hastily brought the sheet up to cover myself. “What are you doing here? Where’s Edward?” I asked, trying to add two and two but not quite getting four.

“Lover boy’s gone to fetch you breakfast. He’s invited me to join the two of you,” she replied as she moved around the room, taking in the exquisite way it was decorated and whistling over the view. “So, how are you two getting on?”

“Umm…” I didn’t answer her, instead groped for the shirt and boxers that were lying next to the bed. Edward and I had declined to leave it the night before, only moving from each other’s bodies to open the door for room service and another shower.

“That well?” she said as she turned to me, one finely arched eyebrow moving up. “I brought you your clothes.”

I followed her gesture and saw one of my bags sitting next to the dresser and smiled. “You didn’t have to, but thanks.”

By then I was dressed and feeling much more comfortable for it. I glanced over at the clock and shook my head. “It’s afternoon. How’s Edward getting breakfast?”

Ronnie shrugged. “I imagine that he’d get you anything.”

What that was supposed to mean, I don’t know. But I smiled and nodded my head like I understood, steering the conversation to more casual topics than Edward and my relationship, or lack thereof. We were out on the balcony nursing bottled water when I heard the door open and close as Edward came back.

With a quick smile at Ronnie and stood and went to meet him, winding my arms around his neck and pressing a kiss to his cheek, then lips, as he sat the bags on the bed. His hands went to my waist pulling me closer, and I wiggled as he kissed me again before letting go and letting one of his hands grab onto mine.

“Croissants, coffee and jellies, and whatnot of your choice,” he said as Ronnie came in.

She smiled at him, saying, “I just came up from lunch, so I’ll leave the two of you alone. We’ll have dinner tomorrow, okay?”

He smiled, said something noncommittal as I agreed, and then I walked her to the door. “Details,” she whispered to me as I closed it behind her. I laughed as I locked it, and then turned back to Edward. He was watching me with an odd smile on his face.

“Details?” he said.

I laughed again. “Let’s just eat.”

 

“I didn’t know you could sail,” I told Edward as he slung an arm around my shoulders.

He shrugged as we walked up from the dock back to the hotel. We’d just returned from a several hours long sail in the Gulf of Mexico, unmanned but for Edward. I’d thoroughly enjoyed it once I realized that Edward knew what he was doing. Not that he ever didn’t know. But it was nice to get away from people, make it just the two of us.

It had been so relaxing, for both of us. Especially Edward. I could feel it in the easy way he moved as we reached the hotel. It was lit up, not as bright as it would have been at a more decent hour, but it was after midnight. We’d spent the better part of the afternoon and evening just drifting away, and were only just getting back.

I glanced back to look at the boat. It was bobbing in the waves, and I could see the man from _Club Nautico_ who had rented it to us and had certified Edward for night sails before we could leave. I smiled, then turned back and pressed myself more snugly against Edward.

“Room service?” he asked.

I nodded. “I’m pretty hungry. What do they serve this late?”

“Anything you want, Anita,” said Edward with a smile. He pressed a quick kiss to my temple and then led me into the hotel proper, past the front desk and to the elevator banks.

We waited patiently for one to come down, and I shivered as I felt his fingers drifting lower to slide under the back of my bikini bottoms, caressing the upper slope of my rear and then going back to circle idly against my back. I smiled, sliding my hand down his stomach and to the very top of his swim trunks.

Even there I could feel the very tip of his erection as it pressed out through the cloth, as if it were trying to rip a hole in the material. Luckily the elevator came just then, and we stepped into it, barely waiting for the doors to close before I moved into his arms, pressing myself against him and delighting in the hard length of him along my belly.

“What if I were to tell you that I wanted you, Anita?” he whispered to me as he kissed me. “Right here, right now.”

I shivered, letting my fingers play along his back as he tugged at my sarong. “Someone might see us,” I managed to say, my voice not sounding like me at all.

“I don’t care,” he breathed against my skin as he kissed my neck, then bit softly.

I gasped, arching against him. “Edward,” I moaned.

Through hazy vision I could see him smile and reach back to press the stop elevator button. “Edward, you’ll set the alarms off,” I said before it struck me that there was nothing happening other than we stopped moving.

“I fixed it earlier,” he said with a smile.

I turned around, looking down into the mostly dark atrium and gasped. We were almost at the top, too high up for anyone to see anything incriminating, and his hands were running along my back. “Oh, God,” I whispered as I felt him bend me forward, rubbing his erection along my buttocks.

I moaned and he pressed me forward into the glass. It was cold and smooth under my cheek and palms. It was so different from what I felt behind me. Hot, rough hands pushing my sarong up, sliding underneath my bikini.

His breath warmed my skin as he pushed it down and slid a finger into me, teasing me as I writhed against the glass. “Please,” I gasped as he hit a particularly sensitive spot.

He pulled his finger out and I made a noise of protest. “Sh, Anita,” he said as he thrust into me, making me cry out and arch up, back pressing against his chest. Then he moved me forward a step, until I was supported by cold glass as he rocked in and out of me.

“Oh God, oh yes,” I whispered as he fucked me, just as I had fantasized about from the moment I’d seen him two days before. “Don’t stop, please, don’t stop,” I begged.

His mouth was moving along my throat as my head tilted back to give him better access. “Never,” he whispered, and thrust harder. In less than a heartbeat something shifted in me, and I came, gasping and moaning and writhing back against him. There was nothing to make sense of as my fingers scrabbled at the smooth glass and his hands clutched at my waist.

He moved faster, thrusting harder, and I thought that maybe he’d break something inside me before he came. Then I thought that maybe I didn’t care as another orgasm moved to sweep me up and throw me off the elevator, only subsiding as he came and shuddered against me, resting his weight on me as he whispered my name, again and again.

I smiled as he slipped out of me and rearranged his trunks, handing me the rest of my bikini and smoothing the sarong along my hip so that nothing showed. He kissed me then, slow and sweet, his fingers playing through my hair and his body barely brushing mine.

“You’ll be the death of me, you do know that don’t you?” he whispered as I leaned against the glass.

I smiled and kissed him again. “Yeah, but what a way to go.”

He laughed and hit the button, letting the elevator move again. He slid his hand into mine, and I leaned my head onto his shoulder as we finished the ride to the top.


	10. Of Whirlpools and Bubbles

It was peaceful just before dawn. Edward and I had returned to his rooms and attempted to go to sleep. But being wrapped around each other was too much, and we never did sleep. Instead, we made love and then crawled into the very large, very spacious whirlpool tub. The water was almost hotter than I could stand it, and I had poured raspberry vanilla bubble bath into it, making large clouds of scented bubbles for us to lounge in.

Edward had made a few token complaints about it, but had quit the moment I dropped my towel and stepped in to slide down amidst the heady scent and just lay there. He’d been in so quickly that it had sloshed the water around and proved to me that no matter what babies thought, bubbles did _not_ taste good.

He’d taken a moment to hop back out and turn the jets on, then he was back in leaning against the side and pulling me to rest against his chest. His arms were around my waist, holding me tightly to him, and I simply sat there, lying in the water with my head on his shoulder.

His face was resting idly against mine, his eyes closed and his breathing even. Maybe he was asleep, for though I could see that his eyes weren’t open from the corner of my eye, I couldn’t tell if he was simply relaxed or actually sleeping.

I didn’t really care, I decided as I slipped my hands over his, fingers threading through as we lay there. It was pleasant, and much more enjoyable than any of the quiet time I’d ever spent with anyone else for as long as I could remember.

Maybe it was just that I trusted him utterly, knew that he would die protecting me if that were the case. I’d do the same for him. I almost laughed. Relationships had been built from much less, and for a moment I entertained the thought of a relationship with Edward. Not just sex, not just physical contact.

Something that spanned into the heart and… My whole body tensed as my brain finally turned on. I could feel Edward’s hands tighten on me and I realized that he wasn’t sleeping, but was awake and just laying there, holding on to me.

“What’s wrong?” he asked me, and I shook my head.

“Nothing, I just… drifted off, I guess,” I said back softly, trying not to sound too nervy.

“Oh,” said Edward.

And I settled back against him more firmly as I rolled my new revelation over in my mind. A relationship with Edward would be frighteningly easy for me to cultivate now, if that was something Edward would want. Because for some reason, I had managed to make those first tenuous steps toward falling in love with him.

It made my whole body tingle to think about it, and I could feel every smallest nuance of him as we lay there. The firmness of his chest and stomach, the curves of his thighs, the way his arms were shaped as he held me. His fingers curling slightly against my own skin, nails scraping lightly.

I moved slightly, and the water moved with me, lapping at us as I rolled to my side, tilting my face to his. My lips found his and I kissed him lightly. “Edward?” I whispered.

“Hmm?”

A smile curved my lips. “Are you asleep?” I asked softly as I rubbed my body along his, carefully avoiding contact with his growing erection. Well, as much contact as I could. The tub may have been big, but it wasn’t that big, and I could feel him hardening against my hip.

His face didn’t change but his hands slid down to my hips, catching me against him and kneading the flesh. My hands slid up his chest as I maneuvered so that I was straddling him. I ground my hips lightly against him, moaning softly as he pressed against me.

His eyes cracked open then, and he grinned wickedly at me. He moved his hands to my face, brushing the hair back and wetting it down to my head as he did so. He leaned forward a little to kiss me, and I squirmed as the movement sent a jet from the tub right at my spine.

He sat up, pushing me back a little, and I grabbed the sides of the tub to balance myself. I smiled at him once I was easy on his lap again, but he wasn’t looking at me. His eyes were riveted to the side of the tub, and to my hand. No, wrist, I realized as I read the blankness on his face.

He was angry, upset. Because I had bruises on my wrist. Wrists, I corrected myself as his hands slid to both of mine and pulled them in front of me so that he could see them more clearly. On each there was a perfect circle of bruises that were obviously in the shape of fingers, and as he wrapped his around my wrists it was obvious that the bruises could only have come from him.

“I didn’t mean to,” he whispered as his thumbs rubbed lightly over them.

It didn’t hurt; they only looked worse than they were. And I said so. “They don’t hurt, Edward. I rather enjoyed getting them,” I said with a small smile.

He kissed me then, long and hard. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he muttered as his lips moved down my throat. “Don’t ever want to hurt you.”

I sighed as his fingers played nimbly across my breasts, pausing to roll my nipples before his mouth covered first one and then the other. His tongue flicked out, teasing each on in turn and I could feel them tighten. A languid tingle began to spread through my body from nipples outward, to match with the heat that was curling low in my belly.

I shifted my hips, moving myself against him, silently begging him to enter me and make me come until I screamed. He smiled as he suckled my breasts and moved back to my lips, whispering, “Do you want me that badly?”

“Yes,” I hissed out as his hands cupped under my butt and lifted me, then lowered me onto him. I moaned loudly as I stretched to accommodate him, feeling every single movement he made as he slid into me until I was nestled firmly against his groin. My head was leaned against his and my breath was panting gasps as his hips moved fluidly, moving him in and out of me.

“So beautiful, Anita,” he said harshly as he thrust. “So fucking beautiful like this.”

“Edward,” I moaned as he slid into me abruptly. His hands moved to my back, one coming up to grab a handful of my hair and tug my head back.

I gasped a little as my throat was exposed and his teeth nibbled across it. The other hand moved down to rub my clitoris and my whole body jerked as he did it, sending electric pulses through me. “Oh, God,” I said, and he echoed me as he fucked me.

_LoveyouIloveyoupleasedon’tstopdon’teverstoppleaseloveyousofuckingmuch._

The thoughts beat through my mind as we moved together, but I didn’t give voice to them. No, not a chance. I just moaned and whispered half thoughts, pleas, begged him to make me come. And he did, he always did. The next orgasm was more intense, more vicious as it caught me right before he slammed into me one last time.

Just the feeling of him throbbing inside of me, coming in hot spurts was enough to send it up another degree, into something I almost couldn’t bear. I came, clenching around him, shuddering sobs making me nearly scream with pained pleasure. He held me through it, moving so slightly that I almost didn’t notice, but the shocks it sent through me told me of it.

I collapsed against him and he went back onto the side of the tub, letting it catch him as he held to me. The jets moved the water around us in steamy ripples, caressing our already sensitive skin and making us shiver in the aftershocks.

“That,” I whispered against the slick skin of his chest, “was very close to heaven.”

He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Close. But not as close as this.”

I smiled a little letting my eyes drift close as we lay there. Not as close as this. Yeah, he was right.

We didn’t move for the longest while, just drifting there tangled with each other, letting the water wash us clean and ease us into a halfway dreaming state. I think we might have laid there for a lot longer, but the phone started ringing.

We let it ring for a minute, waiting for it to quit, and it did. We just ignored it, my nestling my head against Edward and his fingers making lazy circles across my back. But then it started ringing again. We ignored it again, but both of us were tensing a little, to get it if it rang again.

And it did. Ring again, and I moved to get it when Edward stopped me. “No, I’ll get it. You just relax.”

I scowled at him playfully. “That’s kind of ruined. I’ll finish up with a shower,” I said.

He nodded, smiled at me, and then was gone. I laughed. He hadn’t even grabbed a towel.


	11. It’s Only Ten Numbers

By the time I finished my shower the sun had already risen, and I was finally beginning to feel sleepy. I wrapped a towel around myself and headed into the bedroom to get dressed, and maybe see if Edward wanted to join me. But he wasn’t there.

I wondered where he was, I even looked out on the balcony but he wasn’t there. I felt a tingle along my spine. Something wasn’t right. I knew it, couldn’t prove it but I knew it. He would have told me if he was just going to get something to eat.

I got dressed then, in jeans and a t-shirt, leaving my feet bare and wiggling my toes through the thick carpet as I waited for Edward to come back.

I didn’t wait long; the doorknob turned less than ten minutes later, and Edward walked in fully dressed and looking nothing like the man I’d spent the last three days with. No, he looked like Ted. My heart paused for a moment, and I wondered if our idyll was at an end.

“I have to go, Anita,” he said as he looked at me, standing in front of the door.

“Oh,” was all I could think of to say. He came to me, careful and taut, like nothing had changed between us. Maybe nothing had. Maybe it was just a game for him.

“It’s business, Anita,” he said softly as his hands cupped my face. I was fighting, trying not to cry, and he seemed to know it, and whispered, “I don’t want to go. I’d stop time if I could, and we could stay here just like this.”

I smiled a little. I guess even Death needed a respite, and it was nice knowing that he wanted me to be in it with him. It made saying good-bye to him a lot easier. Letting him go… It made it as easy as it could be, given my heart.

“It’s okay, Edward,” I said, hiding the pain. “I understand.”

He smiled at me and kissed me, long and sweet and achingly tender. “Good-bye, Anita,” he said. And then he was gone.

I laid back on the bed, closing my eyes and taking deep, even breathes. At least it wasn’t a game, I thought, before I got up and threw the few things I had into my bag. I checked the room over one lat time to see if there was anything I had missed and smiled a little as I found a wadded up shirt under the edge of the bed.

It was the shirt I had stretched pulling over my toweled hair.

My jaw clenched, and I stuffed it into my bag, ready to deny that I had taken it if he ever asked. But I knew he wouldn’t. He’d already said I could have it.

Ronnie wasn’t there when I slid my keycard into the slot and opened the door of the room we had rented together two weeks earlier. She only came back that afternoon, looking worried and nervous. It flew away the second she saw me sitting on the bed, propped up on the pillows and staring at the television without really seeing it.

“Oh, thank God you’re here,” she breathed as she flopped down on the next bed. “They said that you guys had checked out, and I thought you’d left with him.”

“No. He had to go home,” I said.

She smiled a little, not looking pleased, but not looking upset. “It’s probably a good thing. We have to go, too. I got what I needed.”

And with that cryptic comment, she went to go pack.

 

It was a long time before I let myself sit down and think of it. It had been snowing since before dawn, and I was remembering how nice it had been to have constant sunshine before I really let myself think of Edward. And of how much I missed him.

I hadn’t spoken to him, seen him, even heard from him in almost six months. I fingered the white business card in my hand even as I reached for the phone. Come, Anita, I kept telling myself.

It’s only ten numbers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summaries to follow.


End file.
